Anthime Gionet live-streamed himself breaching the Capitol in a nearly 30-minute video that showed him encouraging others in the mob to enter the building and saying, “We’re not letting this b—-,” according to his last plea agreement filed. Friday. Prosecutors told the courts that his live stream helped identify other rioters and led to multiple arrests in the massive investigation. During a hearing in May for his first plea — which took more than a year for lawyers to reach — Gionet told U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan, “I believe I’m innocent, your honor” when he they asked why he was pleading guilty. Gionet has also maintained that he was acting as a freelance journalist on January 6. “Okay then, let’s pick a trial date,” Sullivan said at the time. “I’m never going to force someone to plead guilty that they don’t believe they’re guilty. Never.” Prosecutors said at the time that they would give Gionet two additional months to consider the plea deal. He appears to have accepted the same deal in court last week. After his plea Friday, Gionet posted on the messaging app Telegram that the vast majority of federal prosecutions result in a plea deal, writing, “It’s literally the usual thing that happens.” Gione also denied being a “feeder” who was informing on the government and retweeted several people expressing their support. This included Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander, who wrote on Telegram that Gionet was “forced into a breach agreement (smart on his part) by this abusive government.”
